The Continental

"The Continental" is a dance to a song written by Con Conrad with lyrics by Herb Magidson, and was introduced by Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire in the 1934 film The Gay Divorcee. "The Continental" was the first song to win the Academy Award for Best Original Song. It was performed by Lillian Miles. Other recordings Major record hits at the time of introduction included Lud Gluskin, Jolly Coburn, and Leo Reisman. In 1952 Harry James released a recording on the album Hollywood's Best (Columbia B-319 and CL-6224) with Rosemary Clooney on vocals. A later version by Maureen McGovern reached number 16 on the UK Singles Chart in 1976. Steve Howe recorded it as a duet with Graham Preskett on The Steve Howe Album in 1979. References Best Original Song Academy Award-winning songs Fred Astaire songs Songs with lyrics by Herb Magidson Songs with music by Con Conrad 1934 songs Maureen McGovern songs